Mounting plate for bicycle attachments

ABSTRACT

An elongated, plate-like structure on which bicycle accessories can be mounted, that is held in place at one end of a bicycle&#39;s rear axle or, alternately, its axial skewer. The latter, like the rear axle, includes bolt threads for threadedly engaging a nut at said end. Supported on either the bike&#39;s right or left side, the structure, which extends both perpendicularly to and rearwardly from the rear wheel&#39;s rotational axis, defines multiple through openings. Among them is a round aperture sized to slideably receive the rear axle or, alternately, just a part of the skewer-engageable nut at the same time the nut&#39;s annular shoulder abuts the structure&#39;s outer face. Distal from the round aperture, the structure&#39;s generally flat inner face defines a small protuberance which, in use, restrains, from sideways slippage, a bicycle tow leash or like accessory clamped onto an opening-free portion of the structure&#39;s midsection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among the many attachments for a bicycle that find a suitable mountingsite near its axles are lights, horns, foot rests and even bicycle dogleashes, also known as bicycle tow leashes. Mounting the latter iscomplicated by several factors including the reality that on manybicycles, the sprockets and derailleur interfere with the optimallocation for attaching the leash to the bicycle's frame when the userprefers to keep the dog out of the line of traffic—that is, on thebike's right side.

A device is needed which supplants the use of a bicycle's rear wheelsupport frame as the structure of choice on which to attach theclamp-with-leash connector taught by Leon in U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,840, sothat the user can deploy the bike tow leash on either the right or theleft side of his bicycle or, alternately, readily change from one sideto the other if he so chooses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mountingstructure, in the form of an elongated rigid, generally flat metalplate, which is held in place at one end of a bicycle's rear axle andwhich extends perpendicularly thereto, with said end being located oneither the right or left side of the bicycle. Defining a round aperturesized to slideably receive said end of the rear axle, with the roundaperture being set back only a very short distance from the plate'souter periphery at one of its distal ends, the plate itself can beoriented, during use, in such a way that most of the plate's bulk trailsrearwardly of the rear axle's rotational axis.

So oriented, the plate is ideally positioned to serve as the structureof choice on which to attach Leon's clamp-with-leash connector.Specifically, one can deploy the connector in this accessory, when thelatter is clamped onto the plate's flat midsection, in such a way thatthe connector projects both outwardly from the bicycle and downwardly ofits rear axle's rotational axis, thus greatly reducing the likelihoodthat harsh sideways pulls by an animal tethered, via the connector, tothe bicycle would destabilize and tip it.

Moreover, a restraint in the form of a small protuberance is located onthe plate's inner face in close proximity to its rear edge and aboutmidway between the plate's top and bottom edges. Preferably made withthe use of a punch, delivered to the plate's outer face, theprotuberance's forma-tion is accompanied by a dimple's creation as theplate yields to the punch. By abutting the inner clamp member of aclamp-on accessory, such as the clamp-with-leash connector, against theprotuberance during the plate's use, one can help to prevent the bicycletow leash's clamp or the like from sliding off of the plate if theclamp's attachment to it were to inadvertently loosen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the elongated rigid, generally flat plateaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top side perspective view of the plate according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the plate according to FIG. 1,wherein the plate is shown held in place, on the right side of abicycle, at one end of its rear axle once the end, slideably insertedthrough the plate's round aperture, is threadedly engaged by a nut; andwherein a bicycle tow leash's clamp-with-connector is shown mounted onthe plate but with only a fragment of the leash itself being depicted,along with fragmentary portions of an accessory bolted onto one of theplate's elongated through openings and of the bike's rear wheel supportframe.

FIG. 4 is a back perspective view of the plate according to FIG. 1,wherein a bicycle tow leash's clamp-with-connector is shown mounted onthe plate, with the inner clamp member of this clamp-on accessoryabutting a small protuberance located on the plate's inner face and withonly a fragment of the leash itself being illustrated.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the plate according to FIG. 1,wherein the plate is shown held in place, on the right side of abicycle, at a bolt-threaded end of its rear axial skewer otherwise usedto facilitate a quick removal of the rear wheel once the skewer's endthreadedly engages a nut, just part of which can be slideably receivedwithin the round aperture at the same time the nut's annular shoulderabuts the plate's outer face; and wherein a bicycle tow leash'sclamp-with-connector is shown mounted on the plate but with only afragment of the leash itself being depicted as in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the plate and of the skewer-engageable nutwith its plate-abutting annular shoulder, both of which are depicted inFIG. 5, as well as of a bicycle's rear axial skewer and the latter's nutfastener.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the drawings, a metal plate mountable on a bicycle for attaching aclamp-on accessory, as well as other accessories, to one side thereofand in close proximity to the bike's rear axle is indicated generally bythe reference numeral 10. The inner and outer surfaces of the plate,which is fabricated of high strength aluminum or its equivalent, areapproximate-ly flat, punctuated only by a small protuberance 14 and itscorresponding dimple 14′, respectively, and at least one through opening11-13 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6). The latter includes a round aperture 11 whichis disposed near points on the plate's outer periphery which are distal,by awide expanse, from the protuberance 14. This wide expanse, with theprotuberance preferably set back from the plate's edge closest to it by½ inch, measures as much as 3 i inches across longitu-dinallymost of theplate's overall length of 4 inches at its greatest span. Perpendicularlythereto, the distance between the plate's top and bottom edges is atmost about 2 inches, so that the spacing between them is wide enough toallow a user to mount the clamp-with-connector's inner and outer clampmembers 30 on the plate 10 (FIGS. 3-5).

During the plate's installation, a nut 21 is removed from the bicycle'srear axle 20; and the plate 10, with its round aperture 11 sized toslideably receive the axle, is then slip-fitted onto it. Once the plate10 has been rotated into its working position, the nut 21 is replacedand tightened. A washer, shim or like spacer may also be insertedbetween the nut and the plate to help support the latter.

Alternately, the plate 10 with the same round aperture 11 can be used onbikes having wheels that can be removed without the use of tools.Typically, such bikes are equipped with an elongated bolt 40 known as askewer and a nut fastener 41 (FIG. 6). The skewer's elongated handle 42provides enough leverage that one can tighten the bolt 40 and nutfastener 41 manually, also without the use of tools.

So that one can mount the plate 10 at one end of a bike's existingskewer/elongated bolt 40, there is provided a nut 43, part of which iscylindrical in shape and of small enough diameter that said part can beslip-fitted into the round aperture 11, but only as far as thiscylindrical part's juncture with the nut's annular shoulder 44 (FIGS. 5and 6). Thus the need for a longer skewer/elongated bolt 40 tocom-pensate for the plate's thickness is negated. Further, if the bolt40 is of sufficient length, the nut fastener 41 can be used as a locknut for the nut 43 (FIG. 6). Again, a washer or the like can be insertedbetween the nut 43 and the plate to help support it.

In the preferred embodiments, the plate 10 defines, in addition to theround aperture 11, at least two elongated through openings 12, 13 towhich the user can attach a fender or a luggage rack, as well asreattach the bicycle's derailleur or a tail light, with the use of boltsor the like (FIG. 3).

1. An apparatus mountable on a bicycle for attaching a clamp assemblywhich has inner and outer clamp members to one side of the bicycle andin close proximity to a rear wheel axle thereof, which comprises: anelongated, rigid, flat plate that includes spaced apart first and seconddistal ends and which defines at least one through opening including around aperture disposed proximate with the plate's first distal end;means for supporting the plate on the bicycle's side in such a way thatthe plate is held in place at one end of the bicycle's rear wheel axleand extends perpendicularly thereto at the same time the plate's seconddistal end is positioned rearwardly of, as well as horizontally awayfrom, the plate's first distal end, the means for so supporting theplate including the round aperture; wherein a portion of the plate isbounded, in part, by spaced apart first and second edges, each edge ofwhich is disposed contiguous with an outer periphery of the plate thatforms a continuous boundary all around the plate, with the first andsecond edges extending longitudinally along said portion's top andbottom, respectively, when the plate's second distal end is sopositioned rearwardly of, and horizontally away from, the first distalend; wherein a solid-core protuberance which forms a single, unitarypiece with the plate defines a cylindrically-shaped side wall thatprotrudes perpendicularly from a flat inner face of the plate and isdisposed proximate with the second distal end; wherein the protuberanceis spaced apart from the round aperture by a span which is, at aminimum, of such a length that when the inner and outer clamp membersgrip the clamp assembly onto the plate, the inner clamp member, inassembled relation with the outer clamp member, can be mounted on theplate between the protuberance and the round aperture in such a way thatthe inner clamp member, en route across the plate from the first edge ofsaid portion to the second edge thereof, passes alongside theprotuberance's cylindrically-shaped side wall and, in so passing, justtouches the side wall tangentially; and means for restraining the clampassembly so as to keep it from slipping sideways in a direction awayfrom the round aperture, the restraining means including theprotuberance's cylindrically-shaped side wall, thus helping to preventthe clamp assembly's inadvertently becoming detached from the plate. 2.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plate is furthercharacterized as having a flat outer face which is bounded, throughouteach length and breadth of the flat outer face, by said outer peripherythat forms a continuous boundary all around the plate; and wherein theflat outer face is free of any protuberances.
 3. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the rear wheel axle is an axial skewer; and themeans for supporting the plate further includes a nut threadedlyengageable with bolt threads defined by the axial skewer; and whereinthe round aperture is further characterized as being sized to slideablyreceive just a part of the nut at the same time an annular shoulderdefined by the nut abuts an outer face of the plate, with a length ofsaid part being equal to a thickness of the plate contiguous with theround aperture.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, which furthercomprises means for locking said nut in place when the annular shoulderabuts the plate's outer face, the locking means including a nut fasteneralso threadedly engageable with the axial skewer's bolt threads,provided the skewer is long enough that a terminal end of the skewerthen extends outwardly a sufficient distance from the nut that the nutfastener can be threadedly engaged with the skewer's bolt threads. 5.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the round aperture isfurther characterized as being sized to slideably receive one end of thebicycle's rear wheel axle; and wherein the means for supporting theplate further includes a nut threadedly engageable with bolt threadsdefined by the rear wheel axle when said end is so slideably received.6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plate defines twothrough openings in the form of elongated slots, with each slot'slongitudinal centerline diverging from the other slot's longitudinalcenterline in a direction away from the round aperture.
 7. (canceled)